Windows 8.1 Suddenly Lagging & Freezing. Can't find the problem. Plz Help?

This has been going on for few months. I've posted about this before but nobody replied & I can't find a preexisting thread that provides a solution. Windows just suddenly started freezing and lagging really really bad. It takes awhile for folders to load pictures or even to open regular folders without pictures. Even when I'm online, it takes forever to buffer a video (and when the video does load, it's choppy and sticks) or to open a message with ONE picture attached. It takes time for all the tiny icons to load on a regular internet page. It's like I suddenly have a super slow connection like Dial up!! None of the other computers in the house are having this problem.

And now a new problem has come up, when I try to uninstall something, it says it's uninstalled but it doesn't remove it from the computer. The icon stays on the desktop and when I click on it, it loads up the program. But it's no longer in the control panel Add/Remove programs. So now I can't even try to uninstall it AGAIN because it's not in the control panel for me to do it. It makes no sense. And then if I have some pictures on my desktop and I go to delete them, they say they are deleted but they are still sitting right there on my desktop like nothing happened. I have to restart the computer for them to be gone. Same thing when I am going through email online, if I delete a bunch of emails, it still shows them there until I restart the computer or refresh the page.

There are lots of little things that are adding up to make a really big difference and the computer is becoming more and more unusable. I know there's some kind of pattern going on here to WHAT could be causing this but I am not trained in computers in any way so I have no idea what it could be. All I know is that NONE OF THIS HAPPENED BEFORE!! Everything loaded up fast, so fast that I couldn't even tell it had to buffer. And offline, my folders opened easily and loaded up quickly. When I went to install something, it was gone immediately. When I deleted pictures, they were gone the second I pressed delete. There was no lagging of any kind. Nothing ever froze up. It was a truly awesome computer that ran beautifully with no problems for almost 8 months straight out of the box. It was fast! Everything online ran smoothly and there was never choppy video playback or videos that wouldn't even load at all. Now everything is slow and choppy and just plan freezes up. Sometimes I can't even get a video to come up. It just stays stuck in a buffer zone. So I am having problems BOTH online and offline. The computer is slow everywhere now. There's hardly anything even installed on this pc. So there's nothing weighing it down. I have no clue what went wrong!!

I've restored it to factory settings multiple times and nothing gets better. This computer is only a year old and it was bought brand new!! Then it installed windows 8.1 ON IT'S OWN about a month after it starting acting up. I never pressed any allow buttons to upgrade my windows 8.0 to 8.1. I've been DENYING the upgrade since 8.1 came out. And now my computer went and did it anyway all on it's own WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. It really pissed me off!! :mad I've scanned for viruses and nothing comes up. I only have Norton so I don't know if that's bad protection or not. But it says I'm clear. :confused

So since it upgraded to 8.1, the only thing that got better was that now I can click on the power button and it will actually bring up the options to either Restart or Shut down. Before 8.1 installed, windows was lagging so badly that it wouldn't even show me the options to shut it down. I had to always press Cntrl Alt and Delete to shut down my computer properly. But since windows 8.1. installed, that is the ONLY thing that fixed it self. Everything else is still lagging and freezing up.

What could cause this to happen so suddenly? I'm very frustrated because I've scoured the internet for the last few months looking for a solution but I cannot find one. I was surprised I couldn't find one here. I was even more shocked that nobody at all replied to my last post a few months ago when this all started happening. This is the first time EVER that I've not been able to get a computer issue solved here on this board. So that must mean that this is a really weird problem to fix and I'm starting to lose hope that I will find a solution.

Anyway, I would appreciate ANY help you can offer. I can't afford to bring the computer to repair store so I am trying to locate and fix the problem on my own. I'm not having any luck so far and I really really need to get this computer working properly. I can't believe it's crapping out on me like this when it's still so young!!

Please help me.

Thank you for your time!

I have a Lenovo H520
System Model 10094
64-bit Operating System
x64-based Processor
Windows_ 8.1 _ 64 Bit
Intel Core i5-3330 CPU @ 3.00GHz
8.00 GB Installed Ram (7.89 GB usable)

 

Might be dust and heat? Some of the things you describe can be a sign of a overheating computer. What is your enviroment like? Smokers, pets, dust and pollen from open doors and windows and living on dirt or gravel roads can take a toll. With your computer off, look at the front, sides and back. Little slots in the metal are air vents. These don't need to be blocked up. On the back the same slots you should be able to see some fan blades behind there. If it's clogged you'll see it by looking. If it is blocked at these vents then there is probably crud on the inside too. Take a look and tell us what you see. People are looking at your post so someone will think of a next step.

 

Might be dust and heat? Some of the things you describe can be a sign of a overheating computer. What is your enviroment like? Smokers, pets, dust and pollen from open doors and windows and living on dirt or gravel roads can take a toll. With your computer off, look at the front, sides and back. Little slots in the metal are air vents. These don't need to be blocked up. On the back the same slots you should be able to see some fan blades behind there. If it's clogged you'll see it by looking. If it is blocked at these vents then there is probably crud on the inside too. Take a look and tell us what you see. People are looking at your post so someone will think of a next step.

 

Hi EnchantedDreams, in my opinion, you should head to the Malware forum first, and just make sure you get a clean bill of health from the experts there, and then return here once you know for sure it's clean if you are still having issues.

 

Thank you for such fast responses!! I totally appreciate it!!

My environment is pretty clean. I do have cats but I regularly clean out my PC with compressed air. There is not dust or hair buildup inside my pc or on any of the hardware. I also regularly check the vents to make sure they are clear and able to easily get air. I don't keep my pc in a tight confined area. It sits freely on top of my desk with plenty of room all around it. I never have open windows in the room where I keep my computer so it is not exposed to outside elements. It's in a room that is nicely air conditioned as well as having a regularly running ceiling fan. I'm neurotic about making sure there's nothing trying to prevent it from getting proper ventilation.
Is there a way it could still be overheating?

And thank you for the suggestion to take this post over to the Malware forum first. I was unsure where exactly to post this. I will take it over there now.

I'll still keep an eye on this post too though, just in case somebody thinks of something.

Thanks again!! Hopefully this will get resolved.

Have a great night!

 

Ok. So I ran all the steps that the Malware Removal forum suggested and everything came back clean except for one item. And then that was quarantined. Yet, I'm still having the same problems. I'm waiting until I hear back from the Malware forum to be sure, but I feel like it's not a malware problem that is making my computer perform so poorly now.

I'm not sure if this is a software problem because Windows is acting up so badly or if this is a hardware problem. Should I post this in the hardware forum, too? Or should I just sit tight here and wait for awhile?

Or should I run some kind of scan? It was suggested in the last response here, that my pc may be overheating. How would I find out for sure? Because there's not dust or dirt clogging up the computer. It's very clean on the inside with open clear vents and fans. So I'm confused to what could be wrong and where to go to find the solution. I'm not really sure what to do next...:confused

thanks for helping me out and being patient with me! I truly appreciate it!

 

It's good that your keeping things clean. Lots of people overlook that.

Kestrel13 in 'Malware Forum' is still waiting to finish checking your logs. She's good as I'm sure you know. Let her have a look!

 

A couple questions.

Have you tried creating a new user account to see if it affects that too?

Have you opened task manager during the slow downs to see if a particular item is causing this issue?

Have you looked into the event viewer to check applications or system logs during the slow down?

 

Sorry for the delay. I uploaded all of the logs requested over in the malware forum.

I haven't tried making a new user account yet. I'm not quite sure how to do that because I've always been the only one using my computer. But I will look for it in the control panel, I'll figure it out and then I'll get back to you on that.

Also, I have not tried opening the task manager during the problem. What exactly would I be looking for? I really don't know that much about computers but I follow directions really well.

Same thing for the event viewer. I don't really know what that is. Where do I find it and what exactly am I looking for?

Oh and as far as the Slowdown goes, it's not an intermittent event. It's just ALWAYS slow now and it came out of nowhere. Now it won't go away. One day everything was perfect and my pc was running pretty fast and I was quite pleased. But then the next day, I turned it on like normal and without any kind of warning, it just started to jam up and every time I turned it on again, it became slower and slower until it lags up on everything now. So it's just a constant slowness and lagging.

Thank you, everybody, for your suggestions! I really appreciate them!

 

Before I reply for anything else, I'll wait for the malware forum to complete your analysis.

 

Ok. So I got a clean bill of health from the Malware forum. :-D

But none of my problems have been solved yet.
In fact, they have gotten even worse since I originally posted.
My computer is still acting up really REALLY badly.

Now I can't even get the side menu to come out on Windows 8.1 when you move your mouse all the way to the right of the screen. So I can't even shut it down! I have to press the windows key on my keyboard to pull up the start menu and then I find the shut down button that way.

And my screen saver won't turn off right away when I move my mouse or keyboard. It freezes completely up and takes a good full minute before it will unfreeze and go back to the desktop. So there's some serious issues still going on as well as all of the original issues I posted about in the first post and I am desperate to fix them. :cry

Does anybody have any ideas on where to start?

 

Just a few questions:

What is your antivirus program.

Have you tried to create a new account and see if the issue persists?

If you bring up your task manager, go to processes or (user) and sort by cpu, what is the highest rated program? What about Memory, and disk?

 

For diagnostic purposes only, try the following: Hold down the Windows key on your keyboard, and press R. This will bring up the "Run" box. Type in: msconfig (press enter).

Click the radial button Diagnostic startup. Click ok, reboot. Does the system run better now?

Or.

Click on the Services tab, check the box "Hide all Microsoft services" Disable everything else, okay reboot.

Note, doing either of these may break functionality of installed programs you have. This is just to test if something that you have installed is causing any issues. Not recommended to keep items this way. For Diagnostic purposes only.

 

My antivirus program is Norton Security Suite.

What do you mean by make another account? Add a new user to the pc and work under that name? I've always been the only person on the pc so I never thought of how to make another account. I'll find it the control panel, I'm sure. I'll try that out over the next day and see if it happens. Also, I have erased all my files over 4 different times so I could go back to the earliest restore point possible through the computer and start the computer over with factory settings.

Usually the problems have to "build up" during the day. It's not usually as soon as I turn on the PC but sometimes it's within 20 minutes and it starts acting up and at other times it can take up to 2 hours before it starts acting bad. But it ALWAYS starts acting bad by two hours. That's the max amount of time it behaves before I have to restart the computer again to get it to work a little better on borrowed time again.

As I type this, it is acting up BADLY. I cannot even get the menu to pull up from when you push your mouse all the way to the right of the screen. I have NOT restarted in over 2 hours since the problem started. I thought it would be best to keep it this way while I communicate with this forum tonight.

So I just took a screen shot of each of those questions you asked me about in the task manager. I've attached all 3 of them here. I opened my screen as large as I could to capture as much as I could but of course it's not the whole list. If you need more info, please let me know.

Thank you so much for your time & effort!! My computer is very important to me and it took me a long time to save up for it. I know it's nothing special but it used to work nice and fast for me so it was everything I ever wanted out of a computer and I was very happy. I treated it like Gold!! So I don't understand what happened.

You guys are my last hope! :-o

 

IF, you have the key saved somewhere, I'd just uninstall the entire Norton Security Suite, and see if that helps any. Reboot.

The taskmanager stuff was, good, but need it when the issue comes up.

 

Also, another screen shot, during the issue, when you have task manager open, the Performance tab.

I'm folding 24x7, so I know what is going on on my system.

I'll check by tomorrow, since I've off to bed now.

 

I did post the task manager stuff while the bad stuff with the computer was happening. All the issues I have been mentioning throughout this post, are happening right now as I type this and it was still acting up when I took the shots of the task manger. Plus I mentioned those two NEW PROBLEMS that started in the last few days and those were happening as well at the time of the snapshots of the task manager.

1st New Problem Since Original Post: I can't get the menu to come out of the side of the screen when I move my mouse to the right in windows 8.1. I can no longer shut down my computer in the normal way. I have to find shortcuts, such as pressing the WINDOWS key on my keyboard and that brings up the start menu and the shut down button shows up in the right hand corner. That is the ONLY way I can restart/shut down my computer now. That is happening right now as I type this post. NOT GOOD.

2nd New Problem Since Original Post: I run a screensaver of my family photos. When I go to move my mouse or press a key on my keyboard to turn OFF the screen saver so I can get to my desktop... Whatever picture is up at that time will freeze in place for about 60 seconds to a minute and a half before it releases and the desktop finally comes up. This used to be INSTANT the second I even breathed too hard around the mouse. Now it sticks and freezes for over a full minute. NOT GOOD.

And that is on top of all the problems I mentioned in the original post, such as the folders not opening all the way, the slow lagging performance during programs, the horrible internet functions (all video is choppy and takes FOREVER to buffer! There is nothing wrong my internet connection, all of the other computers are running just fine and have none of the problems I am having. Plus my computer used to run pretty damned fast for me on the internet and nothing was ever choppy and I was very happy with this pc's performance all the way around, online and offline!) and then not being able to get some of my games to uninstall off my computer. I still have games stuck on here that I cannot remove. Overall performance of the entire computer is slow, freezes and choppy. There is nothing heavy installed on this computer. Just a few Gamehouse games and some family pix and home movies. Nothing should be causing any heavy drag on the resources.

Everything just started misbehaving a few months ago and it came out of nowhere. This computer used to be FAST and there NEVER any kind of problems!! It was PERFECT!! But now it's acting so poorly it feels like it's broken in some kind of way. There wasn't any newly installed hardware or software when this began. Just turned it on one day and it was acting up and it just got worse over the last few months.

I keep the inside clean and I make sure that it gets plenty of ventilation. My computer is like my baby and even though it's not top of the line, I sure treat it like it is. So I'm terribly sad that it's crapping out on me like this. I can't get another computer and if this one dies on me, I'm totally screwed! So I am totally worried about this and so stressed out from all of this, that I could scream my head off in frustration!! I really can't lose my pc like this. I feel like there's a pattern here but I can't see it because I am not computer trained. That is why I am so grateful for everybody's help. Like seriously, Thank you!

I never had a problem with Norton in the whole year that I've had this computer but I went ahead and uninstalled it like you suggested and I'm only using the Windows based firewall and Windows Defender. Will that keep me safe enough?

So I am taking snapshots of all tabs WHILE the computer is acting up. So everything I've posted on this thread, I posted while the computer was giving me the problems I listed. Including this next snapshot of the performance tab that I just uploaded to this post.

If there's anything else, I can do to help, please let me know. Thank you!

Sorry for any repeating I may have done. It's late, I'm stressed about how badly my computer is behaving and I'm tired and not thinking very clearly. Please forgive me. :-o

Have a good night!
:heart:heart:heart:heart

 

Were you streaming video while you took that picture? I notice that the wifi seems to be pounding away.

Okay, the next will be fun. I would like to take a look at your event logs. I'm hoping when you compress them you can still upload them here.

First, click the windows key and press R, this will bring the windows run dialog box. Type in eventvwr.msc.

Next click the arrow next to Windows Logs, then click Application. Right click application and Save all Events as. Save this to a location, zip it up, and upload here.

We can then take a look for any issues.

Do the same for System.

Note, when going to event viewer, it may take time to get these logs.

 

Nope, I wasn't streaming video or anything. I just had my browser open to this page and another tab open with my email page. So there was no video running at all. I have no idea why the wifi was pounding away. That's part of my issues with this pc right now. It's behaving like it's really being worked out and it's not. Everything is slow and laggy.

Ok. Here's those logs you requested. I hope I did it right.

 

Your wireless seems a bit flaky, can you run the lenovo system update? See if there are any updates for you. If you don't have that, go here and download, install, run, and update:

http://support.lenovo.com/en/downloads/migr-73695

I have a work laptop from lenovo and same OS, no issues, which means nothing.

 

I clicked on the lenovo link that you provided in your last post, downloaded the .exe file and then I ran the .exe file. The installation box showed up and I ran the installation all the way until the end when it says "installation complete." But nothing happened after the installation box finished and went away. There wasn't a new program icon on my desktop and nothing automatically opened up after installation. I rebooted and looked again for some kind of icon but found nothing. So I am confused on where this newly installed program is and how do I run it now that it's been installed?

I am not very good with windows 8.1. :-o
I just use the basic things for it, like accessing the internet and playing small Gamehouse games. So I'm not sure how to find a program in the windows 8.1 world unless it's on my desktop. I know how to press the Windows key on the keyboard and then to just start typing whatever I am looking for and the search function finds it for me. But when I did that this time, I typed in Lenovo Update and it found nothing.:cry

So I am thinking I don't quite understand what you asked me to download OR just by running the exe file I downloaded, is what the program was supposed to do and doesn't require me to do anything. Or I am just outright doing something wrong. But I am not sure what's going on and I'm totally confused now. :confused

Could you please explain again what you want me to do?

Thank you so much for your patience!! I truly appreciate it!! :clap

 

Hello EnchantedDreams...

Interested in your problems, but I have only experience with Windows XP and 7. I hope someone with knowledge of 8 will step up.

First thing that comes to my mind is to run an sfc /scannow. With XP/7 that would require a full installation disk, but I'm not sure with 8. You already tried the reset I saw on the malware board. I do have one question about that, but what I would like to see is a chronology (best you can do from memory) of things that have gone wrong as much as possible in order of when. Also, it would help if you could put in the chronology what you have tried so far as far as fixes go (including visiting the malware board).

I don't know for sure, but it sounds like maybe you ran across a script on Twitter that has messed with important dependencies in Win 8/8.1. This could cause the lag problems with Windows trying to find a reference but unable to do so. I guess I would have thought the reset would take care of the problem, but it seems it has not.

There is alot of ground to cover with PC slow downs, including what is running as a start up program, does the PC run in safe mode normally, and many others. Hoping the list of events might help speed things up a little bit.

There is also the issue of the games software. Unfortunately Windows installer seems to be acting up, so the option of removing those games temporarily seems to be out. You mentioned on the malware board that add/remove was working sometimes. Is that still true? If so, maybe removing those games would be worth the effort to see if that resolves the slow down at least.

 

Hello Enchanted. I googled "small gamehouse games reviews". This is just the first link there in the results, Several mentioned computer starting and stopping on their own while playing the games. Some of the other complaints involving credit card and bank activity are scary. I hope you're not going through this also? You can buy game pack dvd's with thousands of games. Lust look for the ones that are labeled "No download required."

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/gamehouse_com.html

 

If you were to disable your wireless, does you computer act normally?

 

Hey everybody!! Sorry for my delay in response but I've been having health issues​ that kept me away​. But I'm back now! :wave

Anyway, I'm going to now ​try to ​answer ​all of ​the questions posted towards me ​lately ​with the best of my knowledge.

1.
I do not know what a sfc /scannow is and if somebody could tell me how to do it, I'd be happy to do it. The only hardware system scan that I have done is through the Lenovo Solution Center and it has never found anything wrong. But then again, I don't know how deeply it scans. :confused

2.
​Here is, to the best of my memory, the chronological order of my problems and the things I did to fix them​​.

A.​)​
This started when I went on twitter a few months ago. Somebody hacked one of the people I follow. This hacker started sending out posts faster than I could see them. Finally I was able to navigate away long enough to unfollow this person. Then suddenly a new tab opened in my firefox browser all by itself. The tab insisted that I was missing important windows drivers/flash drivers/media players, etc. It was obviously BS and I never clicked on any of the links the new tabs offered. I just closed the tab. Every so often, (not every single time) but every so often another tab ​with the same warning about missing drivers/software ​
would open again on it's own while I was busy using firefox. Again, I would just close the tab. So I researched what this was and found out this was some kind of malware. When I went to start the steps necessary to remove it, I could not find it anywhere on my system that it was supposed to be. For example, the first step was to remove "whatever the name of the malware file was" out of the programs section in the add/remove part of the control panel. But that file was not there so I could not remove it. I couldn't find the file ANYWHERE on my system! And then it wanted me to scan with MalwareBytes and I did but it never found anything either. Also, my Norton software did not find anything either.​ Everything said my system was clean and safe. Free of problems.​
So I just gave up. Even tho the tab kept opening on it's own every so often.

​B.)
Then after a while, I could no longer get the "Restart/Shut Down" option to show up when I would move my mouse over the power button when you pull the window to the right of the screen out in windows 8. I could at least get the screen to come out of the side of the screen but I couldn't get the options for the power button to show up. I would have to use "Alt Control And Delete" to pull up THAT menu, which showed the power button and THAT power button would show me the shut down options and would let me shut down the computer. So that's what I used. This did not happen every time I turned on the computer. Usually the computer had to be on for at least an hour before everything started acting up.

​C.)
I reset my windows. At least 4 different times. I lost all of my personal files each time. Of course ​the personal data is backed up on a flash drive but my point is, that windows reset itself to factory settings and all of my personal inputs were erased. This still did not fix any of my problems.

​D.)
After the many resets to factory settings, finally my browser (which I had to re-download each time cuz it's firefox and not explorer) has never opened up a new tab again​ and I have never seen that tab come back in any way telling me to download new drivers. So THAT part is gone. :clap BUT now I have tons of computer issues. :mad

​E.)
My folders started to take extra time to even show up on my desktop when the computer loaded up. Then when I would open them open, they would never load. It would just sit there and hang up and none of the contents would ever show up. I would have to restart my computer at this point and then I could access my folders. Like I said before, NONE OF MY PROBLEMS HAPPEN DURING THE FIRST 20 MINUTES OF THE COMPUTER BEING ON. It takes up to an hour before things start acting up.​ And it's not constant. I've been having less problems with the folders but it still happens occasionally when it shouldn't happen EVER. ​

​F.)
Then everything on my computer started to lag up, became slow, video both online and offline became choppy. I can't watch any video (even offline) clear through without it STICKING and getting hung up​, freezing​ and then suddenly​ unfreezing (while the audio is still playing in real time cuz the audio didn't freeze), it moving choppy and jerking thru the frames and then​ going to the current point and then sticking again. It's very frustrating.​ It's just horrible video playback and it's very upsetting!​:mad

Reminds me of the early internet days when video was not fun to watch. So the bad playing video is happening online too. Which makes NO SENSE because I have an pretty fast connection. My connection clocks in at 44.61 mbps. And before these problems started happening, it was AMAZING and AWESOME and NOTHING was choppy or sticky online OR offline! ​ I had PERFECT performance from this computer both ONLINE and OFFLINE for almost a straight year.​ It only started acting up a month or two right before it turned a year old in October.​

So I know this computer is capable of being super awesome because it was that way for almost a year straight until that ​stupid ​
twitter mishap came through a few months ago. ​ And I didn't even know it was possible for Twitter to hurt you just by following somebody that is verified. It was a celebrity's twitter account that I was following that got hacked​ and unleashed all those weird fast flashing tweets. And even tho I unfollowed them as soon as I could, I think the damage was already done. Because my computer has been messed up ever since. ​

NOTE: ALL of the video is choppy, laggy and sticky no matter what player I play it through and it doesn't matter if I am online or offline. BUT when I watch NETFLIX, it runs smooth and beautiful just like it used to ​before everything went to hell. I have NO CLUE why Netflix still works when nothing else does. But that's what's happening.

​G.)
This​ is the point in the situation when I came here for the first time with this problem to this software forum in September and presented my post but there wasn't any responses.

H.)
So out of desperation, ​my next step was telling a friend who worked in the computer department at Office Max about what happened and he usually knows a lot about computers. He had me reset it again but this time in a way so that I didn't lose ALL of my personal files. Just any applications I have installed. Including games. And again, this did nothing to help my performance. My problems are still there. He said he had no clue what was wrong then and wasn't able to help me any further.

I.)
Then I suddenly couldn't uninstall certain items. I mostly play gamehouse games and when they were erased when my friend had me reset windows to factory settings, I just redownloaded them and had to start over in all of them again. But when I am finished, I uninstall them​ immediately​. I have never had a problem with that. But now the games that WERE on my system before the reset and were GONE after the reset and that I RE DOWNLOADED to replay​...now that THOSE games are finished, I want to uninstall them. But they do not show up in the uninstall box in the add/remove programs in the control panel. Therefore I cannot get them off my system! There is no uninstall option in their individual folders either. Everything else seems to uninstall correctly so far. Just those particular games. And THAT started after I did the last reset to factory settings but KEEPING personal files instead of erasing EVERYTHING. But everything else uninstalls fine now. So far. Just not those particular games. They're stuck on my system right now.

J.)
Then one day, ​my computer totally went ahead and installed the Windows 8.1 upgrade WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!! :mad I was so FURIOUS because I have been clicking on the NO button for MONTHS now every time the box comes up to ask me if I want my free upgrade to 8.1 and I do NOT want it. I always say NO NO NO!! But not this time, somehow when I wasn't in front of the screen, my pc just ups and does it for itself and now I wake up one day with Windows 8.1. AGAINST my will!! And you have no idea how much that irritates me that my computer did something WITHOUT me telling it to do it!! And now I'm stuck with 8.1!! :banghead

K.)
Since the UNAUTHORIZED Windows 8.1 upgrade, ONE thing changed and that is the fact that I can now turn off my computer like normal again by pulling out the side menu to the ​right and clicking on the power button. Now it brings up the options to restart and shut down. Before the upgrade, it wouldn't let me do that anymore if the computer was on for longer than an hour. So there was ONE improvement since the Windows 8.1 upgrade.

L.)
This is when I came to this forum again with this current post here. It was then suggested that I go to the malware forum and get a clean bill of health there first. I ran all the programs and steps suggested​ while I was over there​. So I am now back ​here ​
and the Malware forum gave me a Clean Bill of health as far as Malware goes.:clap But while I was there, new problems continued to form.:mad

M.)
Now at random times, I cannot even get the side menu to come out at all from the right side of the screen. Nothing happens. I can move my mouse back and forth all I want, but no menu will pop out. This is NOT every time and it's only happened twice to me so far. But it did happen.

N.)
My screen saver is my photo album. I have had it this way for the entire year that I have had this computer. There was NEVER any problems. When the screen saver was running, all I did was move my mouse or click a button on the keyboard, and BAM the screen saver shut off INSTANTLY. But now, whenever I move the mouse or use the keyboard to turn off the screen saver, it will FREEZE on whatever picture was showing at the moment, and NOTHING happens for a good 30 seconds to a full minute. I'm just stuck with the picture frozen on the screen during that time. Then suddenly it will unfreeze and my desktop will finally show up. This has never been a problem before!!

O.)
Basically everything is slower than normal and choppy and sticky. It feels like it's hanging up on something. But not all of the problems are constant​ and most of them are random​. Like it's a 50/50 chance that the folders won't load or open. But everything is always slower than normal. And ALL KINDS OF VIDEO both online and offline are ALWAYS choppy and hangs up. EXCEPT for Netflix. For some reason, Netflix works beautifully and nothing goes wrong while watching it.

P.)
I have not run any other programs or tried any other fixes other than what was stated in this post. I have followed all of the advice listed in this post, including uninstalling my Norton Security Suite (even tho I pay for this service thru my ​internet company, if you think it's a good idea to get rid of it, I've already got it uninstalled.) What do you suggest to be better software to protect my computer from Malware and have a strong firewall? Because I know NOTHING about the proper kind of protection. Right now it's only running on the windows default security programs. I know nothing about this sort of thing, so if you could help me choose what to install that will keep me be the safest & most protected, that would be advice that I would GREATLY appreciate!! Thank you!!

​So, to the best of my memory, those are all the things that went wrong in chronological order and the steps that I took to try and fix them. I'm sorry if I forgot anything or left anything out. :-o

3.
I have noticed that the longer I keep the computer on, the fast​er​
the problems start to pop up. But like I said, they are random & not constant. The sticky video is the only thing that is constant. Also, it takes a few minutes for icons to pop up for me. Like the desktop icons don't just automatically load up right away. I have to watch them "download" until they are there. It only takes a few seconds but it never used to do that before. Same thing with web pages, nothing loads instantly like it used to. I have to wait for pages to load. And something I can't get them to load at all.

NONE of these problems have ever happened before. I cannot stress to you enough how perfect this computer was working until that Twitter incident a few months back. So I know this computer is capable of being truly awesome​ so it's incredibly upsetting that it doesn't work that way now. :crybaby

Also, I didn't install anything new. ​Just my normal Gamehouse games.​

4.
The only thing I do regularly is play Gamehouse games. I have been a paying member of that company for many years now and I have never had a problem with their games before​ in all those years​.

I know one of you have suggested that there's scary stuff attached to being a Gamehouse member and ​Trust Me, ​I will definitely look into that. Thank you so much for telling me because I had no clue!! So I will most definitely check it out and make sure I'm not at risk or anything like that. Thank you! But in my experience, nothing bad has ever happened while I have been a​ ​
Gamehouse ​member. :-o My games aren't usually ad supported because I am a paying subscriber that eliminates those ads.

​ANOTHER NOTE TO ADD:
My Gamehouse games seem to not be affected by the computer issues​ in any way because they have all been running beautifully and are not choppy in any kind of way and they don't freeze up or give me any sort of issues. Gamehouse and Netflix are like the ONLY two things NOT acting up and giving me issues right now. Go figure! :confused The only problem I have had is that I wasn't able to uninstall those few games that were deleted during the factory reset that kept my personal files. Those are still on my system with no way to remove them.

5.
No, I have not yet disabled my wireless to see if that helps. ​I'm not sure how to do that?
​
But in the beginning when things first started happening, I was directly connected to the modem by Ethernet cord. It wasn't until about halfway through all the problems that I moved the modem to the other side of the room​ for more desk room​ and started using wireless instead of Ethernet.

BUT there is a random problem I have been having with the wireless for many months now. This started a few months​ WAY​
before any of my other issues started. Sometimes when I turn the computer on, my wireless won't work at all. I have to go through troubleshooting and follow step by step for the computer to reset my wireless adapter and even then when it's finished, it'll tell me the problem still isn't resolved. But I just reboot it and then the wireless is working again like nothing was wrong. But I have to go through the troubleshooting first or it won't work. I can't just reboot it and then it comes back. I have to let the troubleshoo​ter​
reset the adapter first. Even tho it says it didn't work in the troubleshooter, it works if I reboot it after it says that. That happens about 5 or 6 times out of every 60 boot ups.

​Whew! I hope I have answered everything the best way possible. Like I said before, I know NOTHING about computers and I use my pc for simple things like storing family pictures and playing my little gamehouse games and surfing the internet. I do not download things. I'm terrified of getting malware so I never ever download anything! :eek
I just download my little games through my gamehouse portal which is a paid subscription service so there shouldn't be extra ads that are dragging on the computer or something. Even though I don't know much about computers, I can follow clear step by step instructions very well and I know how to ask questions when I am not sure about something. As long as you can be patient with me, I can do complicated things if you walk me through them.

Again, I can't thank ​you all for​ EVERYBODY'S attention, time and effort to help me get to the bottom of this problem. My computer is my only real outlet because I have serious health issues that keep me inside resting most of the time. My computer is the way I experience the world and my​ only way to relax. Without it, my life gets very stressful and right now, I need to keep away from that kind of stress as much as possible. So please understand how much this means to me that you all are trying to help me. It makes more of a difference than you realize!! :heart:heart


Again I'm sorry for the slow response, please forgive me.

But have a wonderful evening tonight full of all kinds of awesome vibes!! :drool

Thank you again for everything!! You guys totally ROCK!!!
:dood

 

Hello EnchantedDreams...

Glad you are feeling better. Maybe we can help get your PC back to feeling better too

Thanks for the information

I was focusing on this a little bit:

You had a redirect virus it sounds like to me, but the games seem to be at the center of your problems.

This is just me, but this is what I would do. Go here (I checked and it's safe) and download Comodo Programs Manager. Click on Canada to start the download :

http://www.tucows.com/download.html?software_id=800144&file_id=461754&mirror_id=8814&t=2

There are newer versions, but they come bundled with Geek Buddy, which is unnecessary. You would only need this program for awhile, anyway, unless you decided to keep it (highly recommend by me but do not update the program...1.2 is the best one by far).

Once CPM is installed, I would download the games that won't uninstall and then install them right over the top of what's there already (re-install them over the top). If all goes right, CPM should monitor the installations and then give you the ability to uninstall.

The idea here is to see if CPM would help you get rid of the game programs. Also, however, maybe this will bring back the performance of the PC. Once those games were off the PC, you could test to see if performance is better. If so, then you might be faced with the decision to find a new games provider I should think. Actually, I kind of suspect the games software is causing your problems, but I am not sure.

Revo is another uninstaller, and it is very good. However, the free version requires some user assistance for removal of remnants of programs (not 100% sure as I haven't used Revo). Perhaps someone will win you over about that as better, but CPM has always been great for me.

Question
Is there a Gamehouse "main" program that you installed? Sometimes, games install into a main program. I think it would be a good idea to reinstall this and remove it with CPM too if so...

This is just what I would do 100% every time.

Anyway, I guess everyone has been through something similar to this. The reset should have taken care of your malware attack problem, especially since you checked out clean. Not sure what is in the Windows reset you ran, so I wouldn't rule out that malware could have caused some damage or may still be there. Looking into that for me would be later if the first things don't work I guess I would say...

 

I have to run some errands so I can't do all the things you requested yet but I will totally follow the instructions later on when I get home. But first I wanted to clarify a few things. Oh and Thank you so much for your fast response offering so many suggestions! I appreciate that big time!!

Ok so let's clear some things up really quick. The bad performance started way before these particular gamehouse games were installed. (the ones that I can't remove) And I have basically always had gamehouse games installed on my computer, especially when it was running in tip top shape. And with all those games, I never had one single performance issue with the game or the computer or the uninstall process. Everything was gravy until that twitter incident. Not too long after that happened is when I got the uninstall issue with a very few particular gamehouse games All my games, all the uninstalling, all the slow performance, all started AFTER the twitter incident. Before that, all my games worked fine and everything uninstalled perfectly. There were absolutely no performance issues of any kind except that my wifi adapter would crap out on me sometimes.

But I could be totally wrong and the games could be the culprit totally. :-D

There is no main portal for my games. I buy a "funpass" that allows me to download each game individually (it doesn't go through another program to download, it is a direct download of an individual game file) and then I can play the game until it's finished. That's when I uninstall it and move on to the next game. I never ever have problems with gamehouse. It's only started since the Twitter incident.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
I cannot redownload over the games that are already installed. I tried that. What happens is, when I click the download button, instead of downloading a file like it usually does, instead it pulls up my already installed game, loads it up and then the only options are the normal game options of PLAY or EXIT. But the game is loaded and I cannot remove it from my system and I cannot install over it. I can only exit out of it so the game isn't running. But the program stays on my system.

I hope that clears some things up, though. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused. :-o

But I will check back later in a few hours and I'll run through the earlier steps that you mentioned and we'll see what happens! Thanks again for all of your help! :clap

Have a GREAT Night!!
:wave

 

ED...

You may want to skip out on CPM for now, although I do recommend the program (just 1.2 though).

Now that I see more clearly, it sounds like the Twitter episode may have messed up your system functionality rather than the games.

Anyone tried Tweaking.com on Win 8/8.1? Not sure if it would be a good option for ED here or maybe sfc /scandisk? My knowledge of W8 is basically nil...:-o

 

Ok, I will run the sfc/scannow program. Is there any chance that if it does find errors that it will lock me out of windows or mess up the computer more so I can't access it at all or delete any of my files? Because I have some files that are impossible for me to back up right now so I'm worried about losing any of that before I get a chance to get the disks to copy them off my drive.

So I guess what I am asking is this scan safe?

 

EnchantedDreams...

sfc /scannow may, as mentioned by MattMailer, require an installation disk to finish making repairs. That would mean you would might need to arrange to have the Win 8.1 installation disk and key as discussed before running sfc /scannow. It will run, but it may not be able to perform all the repairs. Belarc can be found here at MGs, and you can use it to retrieve the current 8.1 key on the machine.

I have run sfc /scannow and had it ask for the installation disk and key and then sometimes not. Just depends on the repair sfc /scannow determines is necessary.

It is recommended that you backup your files before running a system check like sfc /scannow or chkdsk /r. It's up to you. If you are comfortable waiting, you can wait. These processes do not interfere with programs or files, however...

 

I ran the sfc/scannow (I didn't see the lastest post in this thread until right now so I ran the scan without an installation disk) and this is a screen shot of the results I got. Also I included the log.

 

EnchantedDreams...

No problem that you didn't have the disk. If it had been required, sfc /scannow would have requested you place the disk in your dvd. Once you have an installation disk, you might try the procedure again if the problem isn't fixed yet.

Just out of curiosity...have you checked yet to see if the games programs show up now in the program removal area?

I took a look at the log, but I don't know sfc logs per se. Someone will come along who can translate...

 

EnchantedDreams...

Looking over the log, I noticed 4 instances where it is mentioned that a file could not be repaired. In each instance the file was called:

Amd64\CNBJ2530.DPB" of prncacla.inf

Looks like maybe this is part of one of your system drivers found in the C:\Windows/WinSxS folder. I'm not exactly sure what this could be, so just have to wait for someone with more knowledge to look over the log.

All 4 of the "cannot repair" messages were about this one file...

 

Those specific 2 games programs are still NOT showing up in the program removal area.

 

EnchantedDreams...

Ok...I didn't think the games would be there.

Just to clarify. Is the PC still slow or has that been resolved? If the only remaining problem is removing the programs, I think Revo uninstaller might be the tool. With Revo, you can manually remove the programs. This should work well, since Windows seems to be functioning correctly other than with these two programs. Will need someone who uses Revo to help here as I use CPM, which is quite different (CPM is more automated than Revo free, but Revo has many more tools for manual use)...

Might be a good time for you to go ahead and get your installation disk. Chkdsk /r is probably the next thing to run to make sure your hard drive isn't failing, but it sometimes requires an installation disk, too. You can run it without the disk. If it requests the installation disk and you do not have one, it will just end without making the fixes that would have come from the DVD. This won't harm anything. You can run it again or just run it when you have a disk with no worries.

One thing I noticed. It looks to me like sfc /scannow found and made one repair. If you have the disk, I recommend running sfc again with the installation disk in the tray. Sometimes a fix will piggyback on an earlier fix. This is because the fixes can't be applied at the same time, and the second one (following ones) require the first one. Little tricks you pick up with Windows. It's sort of like installing Windows updates in a certain order. Some updates unlock others.

You will need to get the 8.1 key from Belarc and write it down on a piece of paper to make the 8.1 disk. I write the keys on the front case cover for the DVD I will be using to burn the installation disk.

 

Sorry, I wasn't able to do anything computer related since my last post. I got involved in some personal issues and I couldn't come back to the computer.

But I'm back here in front of the PC again so I can get back to work on figuring out the next steps for this PC.

But first, to clarify on some things tho.:-o

ALL of the things that I listed in that LONG post a few posts up, where I listed them A through P and 1 through 5, are still current issues. NOTHING has been resolved. In fact, the slowness is still there and getting worse. :cry

Especially when I have to wait for icons to load on the desktop when they used to load so instantly that I never noticed that they had to download.

My folders open slowly but that comes and goes. The video is still horribly bad both offline AND online. My screen saver still freezes and it's taking even longer to come back to the desktop after a freeze now. And a NEW THING started TODAY: my printer/scanner is giving me issues and my computer keeps disconnecting it from my system.

So yeah, actually? Nothing has gotten better since I originally started this post.

So my next question is this:
What EXACTLY should be my next step after I get the windows 8.1 installation burned to disk? I'm gonna go work on getting that done right after I finish this post. But after that's done, what's next? Chkdsk? What would be the exact steps to run that?:confused

Forgot to ask this to be sure, but will ANY of these steps put my personal files at risk when I run these steps? Because I do NOT have a way to back up my files at the moment. I am hoping Black Friday will change all that and I can get a portable drive and transfer all of my personal data to it. But until then, I have no way to back them up and this computer is the only place that has room for them at the moment. So I'm a bit nervous about that because I like to have my personal files backed up and OFF this system when I start doing things to it. Ya know? But I can't do anything about that right now cuz the drive I was using to back everything up is now full and there's no extra room for the new files. So I have to wait until I can purchase a new one and that won't be until (hopefully) Friday.

Again THANK YOU so much for being so patient and understanding with me!! This means so much to me hoping to find a way here to repair my precious pc and I wouldn't have any chance at all if it wasn't for you guys trying to help me now. So truly, Thank you. :clap:heart:clap

 

EnchantedDreams...

I know what you mean. I bought a small portable drive years ago. You will love having it once you get it. I actually still use that one. It's still performing great with just backup files sitting there. Anyway, portables are great because you can attach them to any PC.

So PC is still not running well. Well, chkdsk /r (space after chkdsk) is a utility you run the exact same way you ran sfc /scannow. Fortunately, chkdsk /r will not hurt or remove your files or programs. It's a hard drive scan. It differs from sfc /scannow in that it runs during boot time and tests your hard drive for errors and bad sectors. sfc /scannow rather checks the file system/structure of Windows for integrity (checks the files). The reason chkdsk /r sometimes needs a disk is that sometimes it will want to replace Windows (OS) data that was in a corrupt/bad sector. When Windows loses access to part of itself it can be crippling needless to say, and chkdsk /r can fix some problems of this type.

To run chkdsk /r, go to the Administrator command prompt again and type chkdsk /r. Then just reboot and wait for the process to finish. It shouldn't take more than 30-40 to complete.

Once chkdsk /r is finished, go to your search bar and type Event Viewer. Here is how to find and read the output file in Event Viewer:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/96938-check-disk-chkdsk-read-event-viewer-log.html

Create a file of the output, zip it, and then attach it to a post, so we can take a look...

We're just in the beginning stages of this. Next we'll have you boot into Safe Mode and see how the PC performs there. For now, it's good for you to run these Windows utilities after a year of good/hard use. They are good apps.

Let us know if you have any trouble burning the 8.1 disk...

 

OH and by the way, while we are waiting on the next steps to finish in this particular suddenly slow & laggy computer problem. Is it ok for me to reinstall my Norton Security Suite now? I had been asked earlier in this thread to remove it so I did. There was no performance improvement with it removed. It comes free from my paid internet service but if it's not a good choice, then I want to keep it uninstalled. Is it worth downloading again? Does it even work well? I have NO CLUE when it comes to this sort of stuff!! :-o If Norton isn't good then what IS a good choice? :confused What should I have installed right now that will keep me the most protected? Because I think I am only being protected by default to Windows Firewall & Defender. I know in the malware forum they offered a link for me to pick from all sorts of programs but I was totally overwhelmed by all of them and have no idea which ones to choose. :-o I asked them for some advice but nobody ever posted any suggestions about which ones to chose. Do any of YOU have any suggestions about which programs will protect me the best?

This is the link they provided me to choose from:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=44525

 

For now just hold off on this one ED. We'll get you back up after we get rid of the slowing. If you reinstall a-v, PC might freeze and really turn into a bear. We'll keep you out of trouble 'til the problem is resolved.

Security is a little complicated, but we'll work through it later...

 

Ok thanks so much, AtlBo I appreciate the advice!! I'll hold off on the security kind of stuff for now.

As for right now, I'm gonna work on getting the installation disc getting burned and then the next scan that was suggested.

I'll update in an hour or two!!

Thank you again!!

And HAPPY THANKSGIVING everybody!!!:clap

 

You're welcome...

Let us know how it goes

Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

 

Late reply form me would be: to create a new account. I may have suggested it in the past, but I will do it in a easy method.

From the command prompt, type in:

Net user /add newuser blahblah123!
net localgroup administrators newuser /add

Login as newuser with your new password of blahblah123!

Does your issue persist?

Note: newuser can be anything
password does not need to be blahblah123!

 

In addition, does diabling wifi help your computer? I think I asked that question before, but I'm not sure. So, do it. Does it help?

Can you move your computer to a place that has direct connection to your switch/router? Does it help?

 

In addition, during all this, do you have anything besides mouse and keyboard that is plugged in that is usb based?

 

Sorry I haven't replied sooner, I'm in the middle of backing up my personal data onto another drive and it's taking 14 hours. I'm moving like almost 900 gigs of personal data off this computer so I don't have to worry about anything happening to it while we're working on it. So currently, I can't do anything until the transfer is done. So it looks like either late this evening or early tomorrow morning is when I can do anything. I will follow all of your new suggestions then.

I can tell you that when I was connected directly to the modem that it made no difference. IN FACT, when I moved the modem across the room and depended on wifi for my connection, I was hoping it would make a difference then because the problems were already giving me hell. And disconnecting it from being directly connected by modem didn't help. I tried this way in the beginning of the problems a few months ago. It was one of the first steps I tried that didn't help.

Also, I do not have anything plugged into the computer except the keyboard and mouse. I keep it very simple. (except for now cuz I'm transferring data to a portable drive but I won't be keeping that connected once everything is transferred)

I haven't tried adding a new user account yet but I will try that as soon as my transfer is done. I'll get back to you guys then and let you know. Hopefully the transfer will go fast than it says it will.

Thanks for your patience!! I truly appreciate all of your help!!

 

SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!!! I ran the chkddsk /r like suggested and my computer has been STUCK AT 10% for almost THREE HOURS!!! So I tried to turn it off hard style by holding down the power button until it shut down but then when it reboots it goes right back to doing the scanning again and it gets stuck at 10% again and freezes I guess. Even when I do this same thing over and over again, even when it says to press any key to skip disc repair ...it will NOT LET ME PRESS ANY KEY and just automatically goes to SCAN AND REPAIR and gets STUCK at 10%!! I AM OFFICIALLY LOCKED OUT OF MY COMPUTER NOW AND AM TOTALLY FREAKING OUT!!! PLEASE HELP!!

I'm on another computer that is really crappy and old but it at least it lets me use the internet. Otherwise I couldn't even write this post to you guys. I hope and pray you can help me... cuz the computer is totally frozen in scan mode at 10% when it boots because I typed in that command chkdsk /r for the next reboot so now it won't stop!

WHAT should I do to stop it???? Because I don't have any way to use that computer as of right now and that can't be the end of this!!! I have to find a way to bring it back!!

 

UPDATE:
I finally got back into my computer just by pressing a random button over and over as soon as the scanning started and for some reason it finally let me skip the scan and repair that the computer was automatically doing. But OBVIOUSLY something is wrong! Would there be any hint of what could be wrong by looking at any of those logs I posted last week? Nobody ever really said anything more about them and I feel like there should have been SOME kind of clue in them. I don't know ANYTHING about computers but I remember seeing the word "ERROR" many times in those logs but I had no idea what it had meant.

I had hoped somebody here would have jumped in and looked at them closer by now.

So, what should be my next step now? Is it my hard drive? Is that why it kept getting stuck at 10%? Would that be causing all of those errors that I posted earlier?

 

Hey EnchantedDreams...

You did the right thing to run the chkdsk /r. It's partly a hardware and partly a software scan that resolves a good many problems.

Try not to worry or panic. There is always a cause and a fix.

There are some things that would help to know:
1. How large is your hard drive and how full is it?
2. What programs do you have set to run on startup (startups)?
3. Have you tried booting into safe mode? It would help to know if you have the same problem with the PC in sm.

I take it you are back in Windows 8.1, is this correct?